The Costarella Conquest. Emma Darcy

your garden, Alicia?’

      ‘Yes.’ Her face lit up with pleasure. ‘I did that arrangement this morning. I’m very proud of my chrysanthemums.’

      ‘And rightly so, Mum,’ Laura chimed in, wheeling the traymobile into the dining room. ‘They’re blooming beautifully.’

      She served the lemon-lime tart with dollops of cream to everyone, continuing her praise of her mother’s talent for horticulture.

      Jake watched her. She was beautiful. And smart. And so lushly sexy, temptation roared through him, defying the reservations that had been swimming through his mind.

      As she resumed the seat beside him, he turned to her, his eyes seeking to engage hers with what he wanted. ‘I’d like to see this garden. Will you show it to me when we’ve finished lunch?’

      Startled, frightened, recoiling. ‘Much better for Mum to show you, Jake. It’s her creation.’

      ‘He asked you, Laura,’ Costarella immediately bored in. ‘Not only should you oblige our guest, but your mother has already shown Eddie around the garden. She doesn’t need to repeat herself, do you, Alicia?’

      ‘No, no,’ she agreed, her hands fluttering an appeal to her daughter. ‘I’m happy for you to do it, Laura.’

      Caught.

      She had to do it now whether she wanted to or not.

      Jake aimed at sweetening the deal for her. ‘I’m interested in seeing it through your eyes. You can tell me how it fits your concept of landscape design.’

      ‘Okay! I’ll flood you with knowledge,’ she said tartly.

      He laughed. ‘Thank you. I will enjoy that.’

      Surrender under fire, Jake thought, but no surrender in her heart. It made for one hell of a challenge … their walk in the garden. The adrenaline charge inside him wanted to fight her reluctance to involve herself with him, yet that same reluctance gave him an out from Costarella’s heavy-handed matchmaking … keeping the more important mission on track, without distraction.

      He would make the decision later.

      In the garden.